Washington, DC (April 23, 2012) Today, Congressman Steve Pearce announced that he sent a letter to House Leadership, requesting that H.R. 828, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2011 be brought to the House floor for a vote.

“This important legislation, introduced by Congressman Jason Chaffetz, promotes good government and a commonsense policy,” said Pearce. “At a time when the President is calling for tax increases, I strongly endorse this legislation which focuses on collecting the taxes of his own employees.”

“In addition to increasing accountability by federal employees, this legislation ensures that those earning a salary at the expense of taxpayers meet the obligation of paying their taxes,” Pearce continued. “While I would go one step further and post the names of the delinquent federal employees online, I believe this legislation is a very positive step in the right direction, and I believe that this should come before the full House for a vote. Americans deserve increased accountability.”

H.R. 828 would terminate the employment of current federal employees and prohibit the hiring of future federal employees who have a “seriously delinquent” tax debt. It provides due process for federal employees before they are designated as a “seriously delinquent” taxpayer. Moreover, it would not impact federal employees who enter installment agreements to pay off their tax debts. According to the IRS, nearly 100,000 federal civilian employees owed more than $1 billion in unpaid federal income taxes in 2010.